Creating Meaningful Multicultural Connections at Tropics College

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Transcript of Creating Meaningful Multicultural Connections at Tropics College

photo credit Nasa / Goddard Space Flight Center / Reto Stöckli Creating Global Citizens What can Tropics College do to ensure they are a culturally responsive school? Lets take a closer look... •What does Tropics college already do that fits within an ME framework? What multi-cultural capital do they have? But ... How? We plan to implement a multicultural capital framework that will prepare all students to become productive global citizens through knowledge, skills, attitudes and intercultural literacy. Students must feel supported academically and emotionally. Teaching and learning activities need to actively engage all students and encourage positive relationships among students, and between teachers and students. How will they benefit Tropics College to develop Cultural Capital? •How do these draw on the models and frameworks for Multicultural Education? By developing a range of teaching and learning activities to engage and empower students, Tropics College is then actively implementing Banks' frameworks for Multicultural Education. Tropics College should aim to develop strategies for understanding perspectives to empower school culture and social structure, but Teachers need to adopt a sound pedagogical practice to ensure students feel supported, safe and valued in their learning. Drawing on the frameworks for circumstantial awareness, the Peer group system provides students with with a supportive learning environment in which to develop skills, understandings, attitudes and strategies to make healthy life decisions. It is a peer led, skills based, experiential learning program based on older students supporting younger students' transition through physical, emotional and social milestones in an inclusive and supportive environment. [DETE Qld] an empowering school culture and social structure prejudice reductionan equity pedagogy the knowledge construction process content integration promote honest communication and the opportunity to learn to accept different perspectives reflect on experiences a buddy system to help students feel connected to the school (cc) photo by theaucitron on Flickr (cc) photo by theaucitron on Flickr copy paste branches if you need more.... School absenteeism was seen to be a significant issue. There were numerous reasons for absenteeism, but ultimately it was associated with whether students were happy at school. If they were unhappy at school they were not likely to attend. Other reasons for absenteeism included students staying up until late (until 3 am), having no money for lunch, and having no money for shoes. Short Term Long Term Medium Term Short Term Goal- Breakfast program run by the students•Will develop the sense of charity, compassion and empathy for those less fortunate (Foreman, 2012)•Allows students to understand that all cultures can have the same hardships such as poverty, allowing them to see the similarities rather than just the differences.•Classes will be rostered to run each mornings program•This can be integrated into the curriculum as well. For example the students can use their math skills to calculate the cost of the food, the average amount a student would eat and the ratio of those who require the service compared to those who may enjoy it for convenience (Moule, 2012) Medium Term- Mentors with identifying shirts to volunteer as playground mediators•Mentor shirts are designed for the younger students to have an identifiable older peer who is willing to help solve their disputes without the immediate involvement of a teacher•Their role is to encourage the students to see each other’s perspectives and ideally come to a resolution.•We do acknowledge in cases of evident bullying the mentor should report the incident to a teacher, as bullying is not tolerated.•Ideally, the students will feel more comfortable going to another student for help rather than going directly to a teacher to help with an altercation.•This may help break down the ‘you vs. me’ mentality that some children have from their experiences. Long Term Goal- Mentoring group and a flow of volunteers into the future•Consists of 2 year 10 mentors and 4-6 students from years 7-9. There is no deliberate sorting, there is an attempt to have a random mix of students of different cultures and ages.•Groups will meet 1-2 times a week in the morning session under teacher supervision. However, it is our intention that the teacher is there to undertake admin duties such as the role taking, the mentors are to run and construct the session.•Is a forum for students to voice any concerns or issues that they may have seen or experienced.•Students will ideally get to know each other without the pressures of the peer groups and will develop trust, and respect for each other which will in turn, create a more welcoming school community (Foreman, 2012)•Once the groups are established, the school can then utilise them in the wider community. For example, the groups can participate in waterway rehabilitation and protection projects, and initiatives such as the Reef Guardian Incentive Tip Recognises that studendt should be at the centre of all learning experiences, makes use of the 'whole child'; academically, socially and physically, is committed to life-long learning in order to provide a strong foundation for students' future life pathways This is a huge mountain Youth Advisory TribeHeadspace has a commitment to support young people within the community to have a voice! Anyone aged between 12-25 is welcome to be a part of the headspace Youth Advisory Committee (YAC). If you have an interest in health, youth events and issues affecting young people or just want to come and check it out, then the headspace YAC is a great place to have your say. Come have your say and make a difference in your headspace community. If you are interested in being a part of the Youth Advisory Committee please call or drop in. Utilising Peer Group activities through cross-curriculum policies. Students are encouraged to actively participate in socially just activities with guided outcomes Students are valued and respected equally. Tropics College Audit Mutlicultural-Inclusive Frameworks and Approaches ConservativeFramework Liberal Framework CriticalFramework Contributions Approach 'Focuses on heroes, holidays, and disrete cultural elements.' (Salter 2012) Encourages the assimilation of students into the mainstream culture for the sake of cultural homogeneity. Embraces the idea of incorporating a hidden curriculum so as to tackle issues concerning a society's subordination of some cultural groups. Social Action Approach 'Students make decisions on important social issues and take actions to help solve them.' (Salter 2012) Acknowledges the need for cultural harmony, but the attempts for doing so only scrapes the surface of the problems surrounding cultural discrimination in society. Transformative Approach 'The structure of the curriculum is changed to enable students to view concepts, issues, events, and themes from the perspective of diverse ethnic and cultural groups.' (Salter 2012) Additive Approach 'Content, concepts, themes, and perspectives are added to the curriculum without changing the structure.' (Salter 2012) School Policies Tropics College Audit School Pedagogies Community Engagement Student Experiences School Curriculum Iceberg Concept of Culture 'The hidden curriculum is not necessarily hidden. What the school plans to develop with regards to the curriculum is guided by documents that advocate the embedding of critical frameworks into the curriculum.' (Tropics College 2012) Tropics College Objective: Iceberg Concept of Culture 'Recognises that students should be at the centre of all learning experiences; makes use of the highest quality teaching, learning and assessment practices; teaches the 'whole child' - academically, socially and physically; is commited to life-long learning in order to provide a strong foundation for students' future life pathways.' (Tropics College 2012) 'Develop and undertake support service programs designed to meet the needs of the schools that will encourage the educational participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander secondary students.' (Tropic College, 2012) ‘Planning and organising cultural activities including the organisation of traditional owners and guest speakers for curriculum purposes.’ (Tropics College 2012) 'Planning and organising cultural activities including the organisation of traditional owners and guest speakers for curriculum purposes.' 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